A random collection of musings, observations, links, comments, analysis and thoughts on pop culture, television, movies, music, sports and life in general from someone who has painfully eschewed therapy.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

A couple of years ago, one of the many TiVo / DirecTV receiver combos on my old house went on the fritz. I called the good folks at DirecTV, and they said they would FedEx me a new one right away as a replacement. They asked if I wanted an original TiVo model, or one of the "new, enhanced" DirecTVDVRs. Out of a perverse curiosity, I asked them to send me one of "theirs." I hooked it up a day later, and I was aghast at how user-unfriendly and horrible it was. Everything was uncomfortable, barely functional and decidedly inferior. (One of my favorite things was watching two programs at once, utilizing the dual tuners, and pausing one to switch to the other for a while, then pausing that, then switching back to the first one. While you could watch one and record one on the DirecTVDVR, you couldn't perform the viewing described above, let alone just by hitting one button to go back and forth).

I promptly boxed it up shipped it right back for a TiVo branded model, and have never looked back. In fact, I think (other than the whole moving thing) the main reason I haven't yet migrated to HD is that there wasn't a DirecTVHD receiver with TiVo. And I couldn't draw breath without my beloved TiVo. Fortunately, DirecTV and TiVo have patched up their differences and are now blissfully in cahoots again, so when I get into my next home, that will be one of the first things on the shopping list.

Anyhoo, I'm happy that TiVo is getting the rightful and legal credit for their life-altering ingenuity.